"Our vision is more obstructed by what we think we know than by our lack of knowledge." -- Kristen Stendahl and "What we see depends mainly upon what we look for.” -- John Lubbock describe the reason that I have started this blog - Definition is supposed to be 50% of the solution to a problem, but the definition must be based upon what is, not upon what we HOPE is real.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.” -- Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Is The Declaration of Independence a Checklist for Today?

The Founding Fathers studied history and their insight into human frailty is the reason that they gave US the structure and warnings in their writings, should we care to read them and objectively analyze conditions today in light of their wisdom. I also add a link to a list of the Founding Fathers, who they were and their fate, along with a slave's tribute to George Washington. It would do some people good to check what they hear against what was real and to judge the purveyors of lies for what they are.

I put the following quotations in an order appropriate for thinking about how my references to specific portions of The Declaration of Indpendence apply to our country's direction today.

"That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only which gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price on its goods." -- Thomas Paine

"Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that ever I took half the pains to preserve it." John Adams

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -- John Adams

Rather than allow my point to be sidetracked into a discussion of religion's role in our development as a nation, I would ask those of you who believe otherwise to view the Judeo - Christian foundation of America as a Logical Construct and read this in light of that construct's principles. While listening to my wife read The Declaration of Independence aloud to begin our July 4th day of gratitude for those who have paid the price in different ways for the creation and preservation of this nation, I thought about how appropriate this document is to our political conditions today. That is the purpose of this post.

Would the Anti-Federalist papers now be seen by history to have not been heeded enough? One final reference to clarify the purpose of this post is a paragraph from

The Federalist No. 51

The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments

Independent JournalWednesday, February 6, 1788[James Madison]

"But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."

This post asks, "How appropriate are these sections of The Declaration of Independence to today?" I believe that Americans today ignore a duty which we have to the world.
Why would we as a unique and exceptional country - look at our accomplishments per our time in history and the fact that the Fence Test shows that people would give up what they have and, in some cases, risk their life to get here rather than do whatever they have to to escape from here - abdicate our duty to provide an example for and assist the rest of the world being more like US than US sinking into the pool of nations unequal to US. We have, in my opinion, as our cost of admission to this incredible country, an obligation to protect the gift which we received and to pass it on to those who follow US, whether they are Americans or citizens of another nation. The American Free Enterprise system of rewarding risk and endeavor when it succeeds raises far more people to a higher standard of living than some central planner in a Collective who does not suffer the consequences of his decisions. Private Enterprise is Self Cleansing and Government is like a Cancer if it is allowed to Grow.
A few observations in the beginning and then the appropriateness of the Declarations.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty

Are we involved in a choice between personal sovereignty and choosing to cede personal sovereignty for a caretaker - are we capable of governing ourselves or do we need a central planner to make our choices?
and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.An observation that humans are both impulsive and government must not be easily changed, but they are also like frogs in a pot brought to a slow boil and will allow bad things to happen if they have become accustomed to them.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

Does this apply to:1. our border security and the Executive Branch's choice to not enforce the Federal Law.2. the Black Panther voter intimidation case 3. the approval of the issuance of a $10,000 bounty for an American citizen, dead or alive - if the government didn't approve of it, they would have prosecuted those who offered it

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

Does this apply to: 1. Creating an immigration law which is more efficient and enforced so that people who want to leave their homeland for a better life in America have a clearer, more efficient system under which they are processed rather than facing the reality that illegal entry is more effective. 2. Opposing SB1070 - Arizona's attempt to defend its citizens because the federal government was not effective in doing so - federal responsibilty to defend borders

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

This was the main thing which brought the appropriateness of the Founding Father's warnings to US today:T1. The Obama Tax and Regulate US to Death Bill a. the creation of 159 bureacracies b. the creation of 47 new agencies c. 16,500 new IRS agents enforcing our "enjoyment of what was sold to US as a "Right"?" d. 20 new taxes e. the creation of an immense amount of issues that create a need for the employment of attorneys and their staff as well as a tremendous amount of negotiation or litigation opportunities. The Congress and Executive Branch did not do their job or we would not be exposed to this disasterous result. f. This affects everyone from a jobseeker who is less likely to be employed in light of an employer's analysis of the cost of wages, benefits which are negotiated or enforced through regulation, cost of compliance with the government regulators and company overhead for the employer. The wages of the employee or the cost of the goods and services must be increased to pay for the added cost imposed under this Act. g. Public employment which is increased by this Act pay taxes which discounts the actual cost of wages, benefits, and overhead of management and facilities, but do not create. Government is OVERHEAD, not PRODUCTION just as business compliance costs are not income producing, but do add to the price of the goods and services of that employer. Public employees are paid for by COLLECTED Tax Revenue. It takes several private enterprise employees paying taxes to support the cost = wages and overhead of one public employee.2. the NLRB used to hinder Boeing employing people in a Right to Work state3. Attaaaaack Watch

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

1. there is some speculation in this regard with executive order and acquisition of arms - I am not familar enough to do anything but note that as a point for another time

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

1. the call for a civilian force equally well funded, armed and trained as compared to our military raised some issues in light of the history of the world post the Revolutionary War. This redundancy which would place more control under the Executive Branch over an army is not only a waste of resources, but a step along the road paved with the mistakes of history.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

1. Do some of the above ring of AGENDA 21 or Climate Control or the International Small Arms Treaty of the United Nations supported to a large extent by the United States of America and seeking to erode our sovereignty by having US voluntarily cede sovereignty through our agreement to these and to our reference to International Law.Why would we as a unique and exceptional country - look at our accomplishments per our time in history and the fact that the Fence Test shows that people would give up what they have and, in some cases, risk their life to get here rather than do whatever they have to to escape from here - abdicate our duty to provide an example and assist the rest of the world being more like US than US sinking into the pool of nations unequal to US. We have, as our cost of admission to this incredible country, an obligation to maintain the gift which we received and to pass it on to those who follow US, whether they are Americans or citizens of another nation. The American Free Enterprise system of rewarding risk and endeavor when it succeeds raises far more people to a higher standard of living than some central planner in a Collective who does not suffer the consequences of his decisions.

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.1. disparaging groups like the TEA Party with false statements while supporting OWS which obstructs business and costs municipalities money to clean up after them, inciters like Farrakhan or the New Black Panthers calling for killing white babys and the flow of white blood in the streets. Issuing false warnings about the TEA Party and ignoring the flagrant Leftists CONDONES & SUPPORTS them.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

These Founding Fathers are unappreciated by many because a tyrant cannot control an educated populace. Compare what is said by the Left to reality and judge those purveyors of fantasy for what they truly are = political insurgents on a mission to attack US from within as has been done with well intentioned people duped by those exhibiting Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry as they seek control to form a Collective Elite .

I reference a post describing who and the fate of the Founding Fathers, a portion of which states,
"Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men
who signed the Declaration of Independence?

There is an answer, the first part of which states, "Five signers were captured by the British as
traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and
burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons
captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the
Revolutionary War."

They signed and they pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor."

I will end this long post about our short lived country's founding with,

"

NUMBER:

1593

AUTHOR:

Benjamin Franklin (1706–90)

QUOTATION:

“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a
Monarchy?”

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

ATTRIBUTION:

The response is attributed to BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN—at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when
queried as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation—in the
notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Maryland’s delegates to the
Convention.

McHenry’s notes were first published in The American
Historical Review, vol. 11, 1906, and the anecdote on p. 618 reads: “A lady
asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. A
republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” When McHenry’s notes were
included in The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, ed. Max
Farrand, vol. 3, appendix A, p. 85 (1911, reprinted 1934), a footnote stated
that the date this anecdote was written is uncertain."